1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a novel collecting and bagging apparatus for leaves and other lawn debris, to be used in conjunction with a common lawn/garden blower or an attached air-blowing machine for lawn maintenance.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Numerous devices have been developed and commercialized for the collection of trash, leaves and other refuse. Equipment for blowing debris and bagging and collecting trash are well developed in the prior art. Examples of the prior art include U.S. Pat. No. 5,031,277 to Coker; U.S. Pat. No. 5,107,564 to Grumbles; and U.S. Pat. Des. No. 299,075 to Scott. Other examples of prior art comparable in function to the present apparatus include U.S. Pat. No. 5,088,531 to Wade; U.S. Pat. No. 4,615,069 to Henning; U.S. Pat. No. 4,644,606 to Luerken et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,440,781 to Kitazawa et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,522,115 to Webster; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,511,281 to Webster.
Several of the previously invented devices embody a device wherein a porous collecting bag is attached to a common garden lawn air-blower for use in vacuuming and shredding lawn debris. See U.S. Pat. No. 4,615,069 to Henning; U.S. Pat. No. 4,644,606 to Luerken et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,440,781 to Kitazawa et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,522,115 to Webster; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,511,281 to Webster. The above devices have several disadvantages which make the present apparatus distinguishable, to wit: 1! those devices are only usable for small clean-ups of the lawn, as those devices are too inefficient to collect large volumes of leaves and debris, or to clean the entire lawn; 2! those devices will have difficulty in collecting and bagging small twigs; and 3! each of those devices involve carrying around a motor with a collecting bag manually, making use of the device laborious due to the weight of those lawn appliances.
U.S. Pat. Des. No. 299,075 to Scott and U.S. Pat. No. 5,088,531 to Wade are waste collecting devices which operate much like the house-hold dustpan. Waste is manually pushed into the aforementioned devices. In Scott's invention, a small bag is attached to a hand-held "pan" for minor clean-ups. Wade's device involves manually pushing yard waste into a collection structure which will compress materials therein for deposit into larger containers. The disadvantage to the above objects are: 1! that the devices are unpowered in operation, so that the entire method in operating them is manual; 2! Scott's device in operation involves difficulty in fully packing the collapsible bag, because debris that is shoved into the bag may block the ingress; 3! Wade's invention necessitates the extra step of dumping the collected/compacted debris into another container.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,031,277 to Coker and U.S. Pat. No. 5,107,564 to Grumbles are devices used for the collection and bagging of leaves and lawn debris, employing a lawn air blower to direct debris into the aperture of a porous collecting receptacle. Both devices have the following disadvantages: 1! both use a heavy handheld air blower which weighs 7 lbs. or more, making use of the devices more laborious; 2! difficulty in compacting or filling the far end of the collecting bag or basket; 3! Grumble's method necessitate the extra step of emptying the basket into another receptacle; 4! the apparatus are basically unpowered; and 5! to employ an airblower to direct leaves into a narrow aperture is difficult since the turbulence caused by the directed air spreads leaves outward.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,031,277 which issued in 1991 to Coker and U.S. Pat. No. 5,107,564 which issued in 1992 to Grumbles when combined teach the main structural elements that can be inferred from the presently applied--for mechanism. (See above). However, the prior art does not directly suggest combining a power assisted blower to continue a manual raking process to an automated bagging operation as disclosed below. This aspect when claimed structurally is not suggested by Coker, in view of Grumbles nor as combined with the other prior art discussed.